Hatay dispute

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The Hatay dispute emerged when Turkey annexed Hatay Province from the newly independent Syria in 1939. The Hatay dispute remains a controversial problem between Syria and Turkey from time to time. [1] [2]

History

Late 20th - early 21st century language distribution. * Turkish .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} * Arabic speakers are shown by religious affiliation: Alawite (circle), Christian (triangle), Sunni (square), Bedouin Sunni (rectangle), Jewish (rhombus). Hatay - ethnolinguistic map.svg
Late 20th – early 21st century language distribution.
• Turkish  
• Arabic speakers   are shown by religious affiliation: Alawite (circle), Christian (triangle), Sunni (square), Bedouin Sunni (rectangle), Jewish (rhombus).

During the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. After the Armistice of Mudros, the Sanjak of Alexandretta (modern day Hatay) was occupied by France. Thus, the Turkish National Movement formed a front in Hatay. [4] On October 20, 1921, according to Article 7 of the Treaty of Ankara, Hatay would remain within the borders of Syria; although with the Turkish language and lira being official. [5]

Maps as old as 1764 had shown that Hatay was traditionally Syrian. [6] In 1936, out of the 220,000 people in Hatay, 46% were Arabs, 39% were Turks, 11% were Armenians, and the remaining 4% was made up of Circassians, Jews, and Kurds. [7] [8] In the Treaty of Lausanne, Hatay was also included as a part of Syria. [9] Also in the Treaty of Lausanne, the Hatay dispute was not specifically mentioned, although France had withdrew from the Sanjak of Alexandretta in 1936 and gave it to Syria. Turkey refused to recognise Hatay as Syrian. When the meetings with France at the League of Nations meeting in Geneva did not yield results, they gave an official note to France on October 9, 1936, asking for the independence of the Sanjak of Alexandretta from Syria. [10]

In his opening speech to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey on November 1, 1936, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk stated that "a major issue that keeps our nation busy day and night is the fate of İskenderun, Antakya, and their surroundings, of which the Turk is the true owner of. We are serious about it and we definitely have to end it. This is the only and big issue between us and France, whom we always emphasise the importance of friendship with. Those who know the truth of this affair, and those who love the truth, understand and see the violence and sincerity of our affair." [11] Atatürk had also told the French Ambassador to Turkey that "Hatay is my personal case. You must know that, it won't be a joke." [12] Atatürk also claimed that Hatay had been Turkish for 4,000 years, due to the false Sun Language Theory. [13] Turkish authorities referred to Alawites as "Hittite Turks" (Eti Türkleri) in order to conceal their Arab origins. [14] In 1938, the Turkish army entered İskenderun and expelled most Arabs and Armenians. [15]

Concerned that Atatürk may possibly invade Hatay, the French made a military agreement in which an election would be made in Hatay, although Turkish troops, under the command of Şükrü Kanatlı, entered Hatay before the elections could be made. In a speech, Şükrü Kanatlı said "I brought the greetings of Atatürk, the Army, and the homeland to the people of Hatay." Turks of Hatay welcomed Kanatlı and the crowds shouted "long live Atatürk". The Hatay State was established on September 2, 1938, after the Turkish government hosted elections on August 13. The Hatay Republic joined Turkey on June 29, 1939, after a referendum. [16] Many Arabs doubted the authenticity of the referendum, and claimed that it was rigged in favor of Turks. [17] [18] Many Arabs also fled to Syria after the annexation of Hatay by Turkey. [19] Arabs of Hatay protested the Turkification, and in 1930, Zaki al-Arsuzi became one of the biggest critics of Turkey's policies, and he became a symbol of the Arab struggle in Hatay. [20]

Syrians condemned France for violating their own mandatory responsibility to protect Syrian lands as part of article 4 of the mandate charter of the Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. Many Arabs rejected the referendum results and claimed that the number of Turkish voters in the Hatay referendum was much higher than the number of Turks in Hatay. [21]

The common sentiment among Syrians is that Hatay was illegally given to Turkey by France. Official Syrian maps continued to show Hatay as part of Syria. [22] [23]

The Syrian community blamed Britain and France for cooperating with Turkey on the Hatay dispute, and accused them of ignoring the Arabs of Hatay and their demands. [24] The President of the Syrian Assembly sent a letter to the French government and the League of Nations Council, declaring that Hatay is Syrian and that Syria does not recognise the accession of Hatay to Turkey. [25]

October 21, 1989 an airplane of the General Directorate of Land Registry and Cadastre of Turkey was shot down by a Syrian mig-21 jet, which violated the border in the Altınözü district of Hatay. In the incident, İsmail Faik Ayten, Talat Gencer, Yusuf Gören, Fikri Köşker, and Selahattin Çelik lost their lives. Although the Syrian delegation instantly blamed the attack on Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia or the Kurdistan Workers' Party, investigations confirmed that it was entirely Syrian pilots who carried out the attack. [26] [27] When Bashar al-Assad came power, there was a lessening of the tensions as Assad did not demand that Hatay should be returned to Syria, however no official agreement was made. [28] Under Assad, much progress was achieved, and 50 agreements were signed between Turkey and Syria in December 2009, although a water agreement over the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was halted when Turkey asked Syria to officially recognize Hatay as a Turkish province. [29]

In February 2011, the dispute over Hatay was almost solved, with both countries acknowledging the border, and planning to build a shared dam on the Orontes River. However, as a result of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan staunchly supporting the Syrian National Army during the Syrian civil war, all progress was halted, and the dispute over Hatay resurfaced. Syrian media increased its broadcasting of documentaries about the Arabness of Hatay, the history of the area, the Turkish annexation, and Turkification. Syrian organizations and parties also demanded an "end to the Turkish occupation". [30] However, Bashar al-Assad had never directly mentioned the Hatay dispute. [31] Tensions rose even further as a result of the demographic change in Hatay due to an increase in Syrian refugees. [32]

The slogan "Hatay is Turkish and will remain Turkish" is used by Turkish nationalists. [33]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">İskenderun</span> City in Hatay, Turkey

İskenderun, historically known as Alexandretta and Scanderoon, is a municipality and district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 247 km2, and its population is 251,682 (2022). It is on the Mediterranean coast. Located on an alluvial plain, the city was heavily damaged by powerful earthquakes in February 2023 and subsequent aftershocks, floods and fires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antakya</span> Metropolitan municipality in Turkey

Antakya, modern form of Antioch, is a municipality and the capital district of Hatay Province, Turkey. Its area is 703 km2. Prior to the devastating 2023 earthquakes, its population was recorded at 399,045 (2022). It is the capital of Hatay Province, the southernmost province of Turkey. The city is located in a well-watered and fertile valley on the Orontes River, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Levantine Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatay Province</span> Province of Turkey

Hatay Province is the southernmost province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is 5,524 km2, and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, along the eastern coast of the Levantine Sea. The province borders Syria to its south and east, the Turkish province of Adana to the northwest, Osmaniye to the north, and Gaziantep to the northeast. It is partially in Çukurova, a large fertile plain along Cilicia. Its administrative capital is Antakya, making it one of the three Turkish provinces not named after its administrative capital or any settlement. The second-largest city is İskenderun. Sovereignty over most of the province remains disputed with neighbouring Syria, which claims that the province had a demographic Arab majority, and was separated from itself against the stipulations of the French Mandate of Syria in the years following Syria's occupation by France after World War I.

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Hatay State, also known informally as the Republic of Hatay, was a transitional political entity that existed from 7 September 1938 to 29 June 1939, being located in the territory of the Sanjak of Alexandretta of the French Mandate of Syria. The state was transformed de facto into the Hatay Province of Turkey on 7 July 1939, de jure joining the country on 23 July 1939.

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References

  1. ↑ Atabey, Figen (15 Temmuz 2015). "HATAY'IN ANAVATANA KATILMA SÜRECİ". Avrasya Uluslararası Araştırmalar Dergisi. 3 (7): 193-209. doi:10.33692/avrasyad.509271. ISSN 2147-2610.
  2. ↑ Şafak, Yeni. "Suriye Parlamentosu'ndan bildiri: Hatay'ı geri alacağız | Ortadoğu Haberleri". Yeni Şafak (in Turkish). Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  3. ↑ Werner, Arnold (2000). "The Arabic dialects in the Turkish province of Hatay and the Aramaic dialects in the Syrian mountains of Qalamun: Two minority languages compared". In Owens, Jonathan (ed.). Arabic as a minority language. Walter de Gruyter. p. 368. ISBN   9783110805451.
  4. ↑ Tahsin Ünal, Türk Siyasî Tarihi, s. 575.
  5. ↑ Picard, Elizabeth (Spring 1982). "Retour au Sandjak". Maghreb-Machrek (in French) (99). Paris: Documentation française.
  6. ↑ "Map of Iskenderun, Joseph Roux, 1764". huji.ac.il. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Brandell, Inga (2006). State Frontiers: Borders and Boundaries in the Middle East. I.B.Tauris. p. 144. ISBN   978-1-84511-076-5 . Retrieved 30 July 2013. According to estimates provided by the French High Commission in 1936, out of a population of 220,000 39 per cent were Turks, 28 per cent Alawites, 11 per cent Armenians, 10 per cent Sunni Arabs, 8 per cent other Christians, while Circassians, Jews and Kurds made up the remaining 4 per cent.
  8. ↑ Kieser, Hans-Lukas (2006). Turkey Beyond Nationalism: Towards Post-Nationalist Identities. I.B.Tauris. p. 61. ISBN   978-1-84511-141-0. According to official French statistics of 1936 the total population (219,080) was made up as follows: Turks 38% Alawite Arabs 28% Sunni Arabs 10 Christians Arabs 8%
  9. ↑ Fahir Armaoğlu, XX. Yüzyıl Siyasî Tarihi, s. 323-324.
  10. ↑ Fahir Armaoğlu, XX. Yüzyıl Siyasî Tarihi, s. 348.
  11. ↑ Ruşen Eşref Ünaydın, Hatıralar, s. 5-6.
  12. ↑ Falih Rıfkı Atay, Atatürkçülük Nedir?, s. 44.
  13. ↑ Duiker, William J.; Spielvogel, Jackson J. (2012). World History. Cengage Learning. p. 192. ISBN   978-1111831653.
  14. ↑ Balanche, Fabrice. "The Alawi Community and the Syria Crisis". Middle East Institute. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  15. ↑ Jack Kalpakian (2004). Identity, Conflict and Cooperation in International River Systems (Hardcover ed.). Ashgate Publishing. p. 130. ISBN   0-7546-3338-1.
  16. ↑ Bekir Tünay ATATÜRK ARAŞTIRMA MERKEZİ DERGİSİ, Sayı 5, Cilt: II, Mart 1986
  17. ↑ Jack Kalpakian (2004). Identity, Conflict and Cooperation in International River Systems (Hardcover ed.). Ashgate Publishing. p. 130. ISBN   0-7546-3338-1.
  18. ↑ Robert Fisk (19 March 2007). "Robert Fisk: US power games in the Middle East". The Independent. Archived from the original on November 10, 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
  19. ↑ "ARMENIA AND KARABAGH" (PDF). Minority Rights Group . 1991. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
  20. ↑ Choueiri, Youssef M. (2001-03-16). Arab Nationalism: A History Nation and State in the Arab World. Wiley. p. 144. ISBN   978-0-631-21729-9.
  21. ↑ Arnold Twinby, 1938 Survey of International Affairs p. 484
  22. ↑ parliament.gov.sy – معلومات عن الجمهورية العربية السورية Archived 2007-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
  23. ↑ "The Alexandretta Dispute", American Journal of International Law
  24. ↑ TÜRKİYE - SURİYE İLİŞKİLERİ Zişan ŞİRİN AYRANCI sayfa 66
  25. ↑ Melek Fırat- Ömer Kürkçüoğlu, “Ortadoğu’yla İlişkiler”, Türk Dış Politikası sayfa 290
  26. ↑ Milliyet gazetesi 22 Ekim 1989 12. Sayfa "Suriye Uçağımızı düşürdü"
  27. ↑ Milliyet gazetesi 23 Ekim 1989 11. Sayfa "Suriye saldırısı vahim"
  28. ↑ Navon, Emmauel (20 December 2018). "Withdrawing from the Golan talks". www.jpost.com. Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  29. ↑ PM vows to build model partnership with Syria Today's Zaman 23 December 2010
  30. ↑ "Syria's "Lost Province": The Hatay Question Returns". carnegieendowment.org. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
  31. ↑ Lundgren Jörum, Emma: Beyond Syria's Borders: A history of territorial disputes in the Middle East (London & New York: I.B. Tauris), p 108
  32. ↑ "Hatay Büyükşehir Belediye Başkanı Savaş'tan Suriyeli çıkışı. Hatay'ı kaybetmekten korkuyorum". Yeniçağ Gazetesi (in Turkish). 2022-09-25. Retrieved 2024-03-13.
  33. ↑ AŞKAR, Levent (2022-07-01). "Kurt: Hatay Türk'tür, Türk kalacak" (in Turkish). Retrieved 2024-03-13.
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